St George DCC and its Rugby League Connections
St George Cricket Club | March 04, 2026
With the pointy end of the cricket season upon us at the same time one of the great Rugby League rivalries played out last week-end in Las Vegas we begin a series of articles looking at the players of yesteryear who managed to compete at First Grade level in both sports.
Here is an extract from our Centenary book A Century of Achievement – The Players and People of the St George District Cricket Club by Mike Coward
Muddied Oaf or Flannelled Fool?
Sporting goods smiled benevolently upon Ray Lindwall and Reg Gasnier. They were compelled to choose between the two greatest passions of their young lives, cricket and rugby league. History tells us that Lindwall became a flannel fool, while Gasnier through in his lot with the muddied oafs, as Rudyard Kipling was won’t to say.
History could have written differently, as Lindwall was a gifted schoolboy fullback for St George and Gasnier, a competent, batsman and brilliant slip and cover Fieldsman, who progressed quickly through the grades at Hurstville Oval.
Even with the sympathetic programming of the 1950s and 1960s, the two sports were incompatible at the elite level, cricket finals, clashing with football trials and football finals with preseason Cricket practice.
The above article goes on to outline the achievements of some of the players mentioned above as well as some more and we will share my details of some of these fascinating sporting careers in separate articles within this series.
In the meantime below is a list of St George First Grade Cricketers who also played First Grade Rugby League.
Tom Crew - RL - St George (1930 - Debut) / Cricket - St George (1932-33 Debut)
Steve Funnell - RL - St George. Western Suburbs, Eastern Suburbs / Cricket - St George, Sutherland
Reg Fusedale - RL - South Sydney, St George / Cricket - Sydney, Marrickville, St George
Reg Gasnier - RL - St George / Cricket - St George
Bill Ives - RL - Glebe, Eastern Suburbs, St George / Cricket - Redfern, Sydney, St George
Les Johns - RL - Canterbury / Cricket - St George / Petersham / Sutherland
Ray Lindwall - RL - St George / Cricket - St George
Bill McRitchie - RL - St George / Cricket - St George
Des Mullarkey - RL - St George / Cricket - St George
Lyall Wall - RL - Balmain, Annadale, Western Suburbs, St George / Cricket - St George
Players who also represented Australia (The Kangaroos)
Reg Gasnier - 39 Games (16 for NSW)
Les Johns - 14 Games (16 for NSW)
As always with these articles it is hoped that we learn more about the players of our intriguing history. If you know more about any of these players or players that we have missed please contact us and let us know.
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